First mayors appointed
Thuringia votes: First big city probably goes to the CDU
26.05.2024, 19:06
It is a mood test for the state elections in the fall, but is extremely important for the people in cities and municipalities: the local elections in Thuringia. However, voter turnout is manageable. This means that initial results are quickly established, including mishaps and bizarre anecdotes.
Around three months before the state elections in Thuringia, the Free State has entered a super election year. Around 1.7 million citizens were called upon to decide on local parliaments and top municipal offices. The local elections are an important test of the mood – especially with regard to the performance of the AfD, which is classified by the state’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution as definitely right-wing extremist, and is led by state leader Björn Höcke. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is also running for the first time in the Thuringian local elections and is hoping to enter the state parliament in Erfurt in the autumn.
The polling stations closed at 6 p.m., and voting continued for a little longer in one polling station in the town of Mühlhausen. There was a huge rush. Anyone who was in line at 6 p.m. was still allowed to cast their vote. The “Thüringer Allgemeine” newspaper had previously reported long waiting times and missing ballot papers in Jena. In some cases, voting booths had to be reordered, says Matthias Bettenhäuser. According to the district election officer, this happened primarily in the larger districts. “In Winzerla, the rush was so great that we had to supply additional ballot papers.” Ballot papers were also reordered in the center of Jena.
Overall, voter turnout by 4 p.m. was 46.2 percent, reports the “Leipziger Volkszeitung” (LVZ). This is slightly lower than in the local and European elections in 2019. At the same time, it was 48.5 percent. Initially, it was said that voter turnout would be slightly higher than five years ago. According to the “Thüringer Allgemeine”, 30,000 election workers are on duty and will be counting the votes in the next few hours.
A first mayor was already chosen at around 6:30 p.m.: According to reports from MDR, all votes had been counted in the municipality of Altenbeuthen in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district. 75.5 percent went to the independent candidate Lothar Linke. Wolfram Henrik from the CDU only received 24.5 percent.
CDU probably secures town hall in Suhl
In the city of Suhl – which has a population of 37,000 – the counting is going pretty quickly. After 18 of 40 electoral districts had already been counted by 6:35 p.m., CDU candidate André Knapp is heading for a new term as mayor with 82.2 percent. Left Party candidate Steffen Hartwig is provisionally at 17.8 percent.
Funny anecdote so far: According to MDR and “Thüringer Allgemeine”, there was no candidate for mayor in Fretterode in the Eichsfeld district. Honorary mayor Mike Gunkel did not run for re-election. Nevertheless, the vast majority of voters wrote him on the ballot; he received 71.6 percent of the votes.